Counterpart
by KZerina
Summary: One night on the Quidditch pitch, Harry Potter gets abducted. What will happen when his friends find out? Read and find out. Will be HH.
1. Prologue

Hi, this is a story that a muse inspired me to write. Hope you like it!

Sorry, about "Pseudomortis Part 7" but I've got some people reading it over now and I hope to get it back soon! I really want to get it finished! Thanks for putting up with me and the overwhelming homework I've been getting!

Please R&R!

*****

Counterpart

Prologue

By KZerina

Quidditch practice had just ended, and the others were waiting for him outside. Fifteen-year-old Harry Potter, having been elected captain before the Quidditch season had started, dueled the one Bludger that had been released for the mini game of scrimmage the team had played. Finally, he called the challenging orb to him with the Summoning Charm, stuffing it into the crate that already housed the Quaffle, the other Bludger, and the tiny golden Snitch.

The black-haired boy, thoroughly exhausted from practice and wrestling the most brutal thing in the most popular wizarding sport, except maybe a match between Gryffindor and Slytherin Houses, tightly latched the supply box. He picked up one of his most prized possessions, the Firebolt he had received from his godfather, Sirius Black who was in hiding somewhere on the seven continents of the world. He slung the broomstick carefully over his shoulder and crossed the pitch with the box containing the four balls floating beside him.

About halfway to the exit, Harry heard soft footsteps in the grass behind him. He whipped around and saw nothing. He turned about slowly and vigilantly walked toward the door again. The near-silent steps returned, but this time, when Harry reeled around to look behind him, wand at the ready, his head met a hard, heavy object that he hit so fast he couldn't identify it. He fell forward onto the ground, mostly unconscious.

"That was _too _easy!" exclaimed a voice that sounded much like Harry's.

A silver-gilded hand removed Harry's wand from his grip. Harry tried to hold it tighter, but his body wouldn't respond; he couldn't hold on to it. Wormtail had his wand, and there was nothing he could do about it.

"Give it to me, you insipient fool," came Harry's voice again.

Harry tried to look around, but he couldn't keep his drooping eyes open long enough to see anything to help him assess the mystifying situation.

"You'll have fun where your going, Potter," taunted his voice, acidly.

His wand was pushed into his neck at the base of his skull. Whatever it was that had his wand and voice was going to kill him, and he wasn't even allowed to go down in a duel.

"Stupefy!" the voice whispered unexpectedly.

Harry fell fully unconscious in an instant.

"Put him in," growled Harry's voice, motioning to a bag. "Quickly, you brainless jester! I don't even know why he keeps you around."

Wormtail stretched a canvas sack over Harry's head and struggled to insert the rest of his body. When success finally came to him, he slumped over his large parcel.

"Get out of here, clueless buffoon, before the others come and find you here," the mimicker commanded, irritably.

Wormtail fumbled around in his pocket for something. When he pulled it out and grabbed the top of the cumbersome bundle that was Harry, he disappeared from view with the old bottle cap portkey.

The fake Harry laughed a low, cold laugh, smirking villainously as he went took the Quidditch supplies up to the castle.

*****

So, did you like it? Hate it? Constructive criticism is welcomed; flames will be taken on a camping trip and used for cooking. Thanks for reading! Please review!

Thanks,

KZerina


	2. Letters

This is the first chapter of the "Counterpart" story. I hope you like! If there's any information you'd like, please ask in a review or e-mail and I'll gladly answer if I have one!

Please R&R!

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or anything associated with it.

*****

Counterpart

Chapter 1- Letters

By KZerina

"Wake up, Harry," Ron said, sleepily. "It's Saturday morning. We can go visit Hagrid."

Harry moaned and rolled over, ignoring Ron. He wasn't in the mood to wake up, not for Ron anyway.

"At least come to breakfast with me," Ron persisted.

"Fine," Harry said more forcefully than was necessary. "Fine. I'll go with you if it'll get you to keep you mouth shut."

Ron started. Harry must have been in a really bad mood to be that irritable at ten o'clock in the morning on a Saturday when they didn't have any classes. Harry had gone into the bathroom to change into his wizarding robes for the day. Ron followed suit when Harry had returned to his four-poster bed, and when Ron was dressed, the two boys went to the Great Hall for breakfast.

They sat next to Hermione who had already made her way to breakfast and saved her best friends seats on either side of herself. She slid to the right, and Harry took the middle seat while Ron took the remaining seat on Harry's left.

The owl post came right on time. Hedwig swooped in bearing a letter bound to her leg. She landed in front of Harry, but when he reached out to remove the letter, she bit him hard on the finger and fluttered to Hermione's far shoulder, sticking her beak up and ruffling her feathers haughtily.

Hermione looked at Hedwig, brows knitted in confusion. She looked over at Harry who was sucking gently on his bleeding finger. Harry looked at his finger and glared stonily at his snowy owl with a glare he had never used before. Hermione didn't know he could look like that—almost evil.

She looked back up at Hedwig who was now returning the glare. She stood up with Hedwig still perched upon her shoulder and walked away nonchalantly to sit by Ginny who was sitting with the other fourth year girls. Ron was looking at her strangely, obviously wondering why she had left. Hermione looked at Hedwig again and removed the letter from her leg. She recognized the handwriting as Sirius's. Hermione dared not open it at the breakfast table without Harry, so she slipped it into a pocket inside her robes where it would be safe from prying eyes.

Ginny had been looking at her curiously since she had seated herself away from her two best friends.

"What's up, Hermione? Why'd you move down here?" she asked in a confused tone.

"I'll tell you after breakfast," Hermione replied, her voice lowered to barely above a whisper.

Ginny nodded and scooped eggs onto her breakfast plate; Hermione did the same and ate her breakfast in peace, occasionally feeding strips of bacon to Harry's perched owl, who accepted them gratefully.

As soon as both girls had finished, Ginny excused herself from her friends, and they headed to Gryffindor Tower for explanations.

"So," Ginny asked, "why did you sit by me?"

"Hedwig bit Harry and sat on _my _shoulder," answered Hermione, gesturing at the snowy owl still sitting on her shoulder. "Even when she's in a foul mood, she doesn't bite him, not like she did. There's something wrong with Harry; there has to be."

"What if there's something wrong with Hedwig?"

"It's not Hedwig, or she'd be having problems with me, too," Hermione sighed. "I just wish I knew what was wrong."

Ginny shook her head glumly, and both stared at the floor.

"We should tell Professor Dumbledore," Hermione announced suddenly. "Maybe he could help."

Hermione jumped up and rushed out of the common room, catching Ginny off guard, but she was soon on Hermione's heels as they headed up to the Great Hall, hoping that Professor Dumbledore was still presiding there. He was just leaving as they arrived.

"Professor Dumbledore!" Hermione called.

The headmaster raised his eyebrows to show the girls they had his attention.

"There's something important we have to talk to you about," Hermione panted, "preferably in private."

"Of course," replied Dumbledore, assuredly. "Let us go up to my office; you may tell me there." The headmaster motioned for them to follow him, which they did.

They reached a large, ugly, stone statue that seemed to be a gargoyle. Dumbledore spoke the password ("sugar quill"), and the creature pounced aside for them to pass. They stepped onto the stairs and nearly fell over when they began to move, although Dumbledore didn't move at all since he was used to the staircase moving beneath his feet.

The ride finally ended as they reached the door. The professor opened it and stepped inside, inviting the girls in after him. A beautiful scarlet bird was perched by the window swaying gently and singing a heart-soothing, but almost mournful song.

"That must be Fawkes," Hermione said, awestruck at the gently glowing bird. "Harry's talked about him. He's beautiful…."

"Yes," said Dumbledore. "And he seems to be acting strangely. He's usually not this talkative. I thought he must be in a particularly happy mood. Anyway, you had something important to say to me."

"Oh, yeah," Hermione said. "Well, this morning Hedwig brought a reply from…" Hermione paused and Dumbledore nodded his knowledge of Sirius. "…And when Harry tried to take the letter, Hedwig actually bit him—hard." Hermione finished, stroking Hedwig's feathers gently while the owl hooted indignantly at the story.

Dumbledore stared at his desk vacantly as though in a deep trance of thought. Fawkes's song was accentuated by the silence of voices.

"Very interesting," the headmaster spoke finally. "I don't know what I can do since I don't know what's going on, but keep me informed of any other strange behavior of Harry or anyone closely connected with him."

"Yes, sir," both girls answered.

"Have a good classless day then," he said cheerfully, ushering them out of the office politely.

Both girls walked down the hall, heading to Gryffindor Tower. They entered and sat on a comfortable couch.

"Well, like the professor said, there's nothing we can do until we have more information," Hermione said disappointedly. "Excuse me, Ginny, I have a letter I need to write."

She got up and went to her dormitory. She pulled open the window and sent Hedwig up to the owlery where she could sleep. Hermione grabbed some parchment, a quill, and a bottle of plain, black ink. She set the ink on her bedside table and opened it, dipping the end of her eagle feather into it. With the parchment set on a hardbound book on her knees, she began to write.

_Dear Sirius,_

_This is Hermione, not Harry. We received your letter, but there is something more important to address, concerning the handling. Hedwig wouldn't let Harry take the letter, which caused me to be suspicious. He seemed different—more than different actually, almost evil. Ginny, Ron's sister, and I talked to Professor Dumbledore about it, and he'll be able to help us once we get more information to him. I thought you ought to know, but don't get yourself caught! I'll keep you informed of what we gather._

_And, by the way, the letter you sent is completely sealed in my pocket, unread, even by me, so it is perfectly safe._

_With Love,_

_Hermione_

With that, she folded the letter and slipped it into an envelope without a single spot of ink on it. She sealed it with a proper sealing charm and made her way to the owlery for Hedwig to take to Harry's godfather. She opened the door slowly, and no one was there. She whistled to Hedwig who responded immediately, realizing that Hermione was helping their absent best friend.

"Here, Hedwig," Hermione said gently. "Take this to Sirius for me will you? And hurry."

Hedwig gave an important hoot and flapped out the window toward the fugitive Sirius Black.

Hermione turned and left the owlery and returned to her dormitory and to do her weekend homework, which consisted of Charms, Transfiguration, and Potions, and when that was completed, she headed to the library to research magical methods of cloning and brainwashing.

***

Tiny slits of dim light shone brightly as Harry slowly woke up from a deep sleep. He groaned and rolled onto his side and opened his eye fully, gaining a blurry image of a dirt-covered floor. He shook his head to clear it, only obtaining a similar response. He tried to sit up only to get a wave of dizziness, and he lay back down. Massaging his forehead, he looked up at the stone ceiling.

"Where am I?" he asked himself rhetorically, since he knew he wasn't at Hogwarts.

"You are in the brig," a sinister voice drawled.

Harry started himself into a sitting position, being hit by another bout of dizziness, which made him clutch his head again, this time feeling a large lump where he had been hit on the Quidditch pitch.

"Don't worry, Potter. I'm not here to execute you. I don't have that authority," explained the voice. "I'm only guarding you. If you are to be killed, the Master will to it himself."

"Oh, what a comforting thought," Harry muttered under his breath.

"Now, Potter, I suggest you relax. You're going to be here for a while."

"Lovely, just what I always wanted, a jail cell all to myself."

"And I also suggest that you keep that sarcastic tongue of yours inside of your mouth," the Death Eater warned, "or I might be forced to tell the Master that our prisoner is getting a little…hostile."

Harry snorted in spite of his guard who merely glared at him.

Seeing no reason at this point to panic, Harry lay back down on the crudely made bunk and stared at the drab ceiling.

_This is Voldemort's work, _he thought. _Who else would want me locked up like this, to be toyed with? I need to figure a way out of here...._

***

So, who liked? Who didn't? Constructive criticism is very welcome. Flames shall be used to put a fire in the chimney, as winter is approaching rather quickly this year. Thank you to those who reviewed the prologue.

Notes to reviewers:

Rowan: Here's more! I hope you liked it! I hope to get the next chapter up soon.

Gemini: I'm glad you liked last chapter. I hope this one meets your standards as well.

Thanks for reading this story! Any questions, comments, etc… can be posed through a review or an e-mail. Hope you liked it!

KZerina


	3. Lessons

Here's chapter two! It's a couple of days later than chapter one, FYI. I hope it's as good as all you readers out there say it is. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or anything associated with it.

*****

Counterpart

Chapter 2-Lessons

By KZerina

Hermione sat curled up in a common room chair, her bandy-legged, fluffy, orange cat curled up in her lap. She held her Transfiguration book up to her face, studying the chapters on human transfiguration.

Crookshanks became bored and jumped down to explore the room and what it contained that he could chase. Soon, however, he began to hiss, spit, and yowl. Hermione looked up to see what he was doing. He had stopped in front of Harry and seemed horribly disgusted at him.

Hermione closed her book and scooped up her disgruntled cat, heading upstairs to her dormitory. "I know, Crookshanks," she whispered once out of earshot of the common room. "There's something wrong with Harry."

She set the cat on her bed and stroked his wild, ginger fur. She stretched out on her bed next to her cat and tried to study, but now that Crookshanks had put her attention on the clone, all she could think of was Harry. She knew he wasn't under the Imperious Curse since he could fight it, like he had in Defense Against the Dark Arts the previous school year. She was pretty sure it was some sort of naïve clone, because if it were Harry, he wouldn't be able to look evil, like at breakfast a few mornings prior, even if he was brainwashed. She wanted to help Harry, but she couldn't figure out how.

"Hermione, Earth to Hermione."

Parvati's voice snapped Hermione out of her trance.

"Are you all right? You look like you're about to cry."

"I feel like that, too. You wouldn't understand though, and I don't really want to talk about it."

Both Parvati and Lavender looked rejected. However, Delia Osbourne, a dorm mate with whom Hermione hardly ever talked, pointed out an owl tapping on the glass of the window. Hermione, recognizing Hedwig instantly, nearly pounced at the window, ripping it open and letting the snowy owl into the room. She tore Sirius's letter from the owl's leg and sent her up to the owlery where Hermione said she would meet her.

Stuffing the letter into a pocket of her robes, Hermione grabbed parchment, a quill, and ink. She rushed out of the dormitory, ignoring Parvati and Lavender's squeals about Harry sending her a letter.

In the common room, she found that Ron and Harry's double were gone. She hoped they had gone upstairs to the boys' dormitory to study. He should at least keep Harry's grades up. After all, he _was _the Dark Lord's servant. What would be thought of him if he didn't make good grades?

Hermione was about to open the owlery door when she heard voices coming from inside. One was unmistakably Ron's.

"What?! You're sending him where?!"

"_Obliviate!_"

"Bye, Pig!"

Hermione drew in a heavy breath. Harry's double had just used Ron's owl to send a message, probably to the Dark Lord himself. Hermione hoped with all her heart that she could skate through without him noticing that she had heard him use a powerful memory charm on Ron.

She opened the door tentatively and stepped through just as the two boys turned to leave. The clone watched her carefully.

"Can I help you?" Hermione asked him indignantly. "A girl can owl a letter without disturbance, can't she?"

"Probably with my owl."

"You never cared before."

"You two never fight," Ron pointed out. "Why now?"

Both Hermione and Harry's double glared at Ron, and he immediately quailed back from them. They exchanged an intense stare before the clone grabbed Ron's collar and stalked out with him.

Hermione felt like crying. She didn't know what could have happened to the real Harry Potter, her Harry. He could be dead, or if the Dark Lord had taken control of Azkaban's Dementors, he could be worse off than dead. A horrible feeling arose in the pit of her stomach. What if he _had_ been Kissed? No, she couldn't think these things. If she did then she might start to believe them.

She wiped a small tear from her face and called Hedwig over. Hermione, with Hedwig on her knee, sat on the floor and read Sirius's letter aloud to the owl.

_Hermione,_

_This is strange news. I'm coming to you. When's your next Hogsmeade visit? I'll meet you there at the fence. I want to meet this "Harry" for myself. I promise I won't get caught._

_                                                                                                Sirius_

Hermione pulled out the parchment, ink, and quill and wrote a short reply. Hedwig snatched the letter in her beak and flew out the window with it.

Hermione watched as the owl became a small white speck in the night sky before turning out of the owlery and heading to Professor Dumbledore's office, remembering the way with very little difficulty.

Soon she arrived at the gargoyle. Her mind was filled with a great deal of worrisome subjects.

"Lemon solvent. No wait that's the bathroom," she said so flustered she said the wrong password. "Gryffin's talon. No that's the Tower! Come on, Hermione. Pull yourself together. What did Professor Dumbledore say the other day? Oh! Right! Sugar Quill!"

The gargoyle pounced aside, and Hermione stepped onto the staircase. She ran up two stairs at a time while the stairs were moving, making her reach the door to the Headmaster's office even more quickly. She reached up to knock, but as her hand was about to hit the door, it opened, and there stood the Headmaster welcoming her.

"Hello, Hermione," he greeted. "You seem flustered. Would you like to tell me something?"

"That's why I came, Professor. It's about Harry. I've figured out that it's probably some sort of a clone by the way he's acting."

"How so?"

"Well, if some part of our Harry was still there somewhere, he wouldn't be able to look evil. He'd also be fighting whatever it was that was controlling him, and when I was replying to Sirius," she handed Dumbledore the letter she'd received from Sirius. "I heard him send a letter with Ron's owl and _Obliviate_ Ron."

"Do you think there is any way to get a hold of Voldemort's reply if there is one?"

"I could try, but I'd have to think about how. I think he knows I'm on to him."

"Very well, then. Do your best. Good luck."

"Thank you, Professor."

With that, she went out the door, down the stairs, and back to her dormitory. She went straight to bed since she knew studying was impossible. She'd never be able to concentrate properly. Her mind was stuck on Harry, and she couldn't get it off, no matter how hard she tried. She found it better to just go to sleep and dream about him, than to lie on her bed and make herself cry over him by thinking of his possible conditions, so she did.

*****

A small silver platter had been slid across the cold floor, through the bars of Harry's cell. It held several small loaves of bread and a pile of very lumpy mashed potatoes. Harry studied the food carefully before kicking it as far away from him as it could possibly go without slamming into something.

"Come now, Potter," his guard sneered. "You must be hungry."

"I'm not eating anything you or anyone else here gives me. I wouldn't be surprised if it was poisoned."

"No, Harry, it's not poisoned. I need you to continue my plan."

Harry's scar burst with pain. Voldemort had spoken. Harry gritted his teeth and bore the pain.

"Surely you must be hungry, Harry."

He was very hungry, but he'd been starved before by the Dursleys. He would be able to go without food for a while. He glared up at Voldemort, jaws still clenched so tightly that his teeth were beginning to hurt.

"Very well. Starve yourself," Voldemort said, clearly annoyed. "It's only hurting you."

He began to stalk out when he stopped and whispered to one of his minions.

"Remember, don't touch him, especially with magic. You know that it will do the same to our Hogwarts informant. So don't."

Harry acted as though he hadn't heard this. He lay down on the lumpy bunk and snubbed the food that continued to sit on the other side of his cell. A different guard took his place outside the semi-public room and watched Harry unceasingly. This man hardly ever blinked as he did so.

Finally, it grew dark. Harry's stomach was giving off somewhat embarrassing groans of hunger that Harry refused to appease. He laid his head on his pillow and sleep went over his body along with a dreamless night.

The next morning, he found a different plate of food by his bed as he woke up and pushed it away as he had done the previous dinner. The Death Eater sneered at him, but did nothing.

Harry sat up and swung his feet to the floor and leaned on his knees, fiddling with the hem of his Quidditch robes. There wasn't much else to do but stare at the ground and fidget. Maybe, if he concentrated hard enough and put all his effort into it, he could do some controlled wandless magic.

He thought he'd try a simple levitation spell at first. He looked at one if the meager rolls on the plate on the other side of the cell. He cleared his mind of everything but that roll and making it levitate. After a while of failure, his head began to ache, and his stomach growled horribly. The hunger was almost too much to bear, but he fought it and rested, trying to ease his headache.

*****

"Miss Granger, I really wish you would pay attention in my class," Professor McGonagall told her sternly. "This really isn't like you. Please see me after class."

"Yes, Professor. I'm sorry."

Hermione was having a terrible time concentrating on anything. She was wishing that Harry wasn't so popular with the dark wizards in Britain. She pulled her attention from this subject with a great deal of effort, but was finally able to keep up with the lesson which was soon over.

As the professor had requested, Hermione approached her desk after the rest of the students had left the classroom. She was ashamed of what had happened, but she knew that it would continue to be difficult to concentrate; luckily she didn't have Potions that day.

"Miss Granger, might I ask what's going on? You are one of the last people I'd expect to leave my class while still being physically present. There is something wrong, and if it is possible, I'd like to help."

"Well, Professor," Hermione started hesitantly, "it's hard to explain, or even believe for that matter."

"Please, try."

"I'm worried about Harry. He could be dead, Professor, and it's hard to concentrate."

"Miss Granger, he's not anywhere near dead. He was sitting right behind you in class today."

Hermione sighed and stared at the ground solemnly. "No, Professor. That's not Harry. He doesn't act properly, and Hedwig can't stand him. It's not Harry. I know it."

"Very well, then, Miss Granger. It seems I can't help any. I wish you good luck in figuring out this mystery. If there is anything I can do to help, please, don't be afraid to ask. I'll do what I can."

"Thank you, Professor," Hermione said and left the room and headed to lunch.

After eating by herself, Hermione headed off to the library to research more on magical clones. She found several ways to create one, but a few conditions fit with all of them. One was that the clone would have to drink a potion in order to continue to exist. Another was that whatever magic performed on either the clone or the original would happen to the other, though physical assault was possible, but not recommended since the clone rejuvenation potion required recently live tissue from the original specimen.

This information was somewhat comforting. This told her he was probably still alive since the clone would need his tissue to stay alive. Hermione could sleep a little more soundly during the upcoming nights.

She also found that the clone would be totally loyal to his creator, in this case, Voldemort. Hermione sighed and closed the book with the page dog-eared. She approached Madam Pince and checked it out so she could present the information to Professor Dumbledore after dinner.

The headmaster took the book and said he would take it to Snape and see how a person would go about making the clone rejuvenation potion. If he knew, they might be able to get somewhere with the information.

Hermione thanked him and headed back towards the common room. On her way, she heard angry voices in the hall to the fork opposite the direction of Gryffindor Tower. Curiosity taking the better of her, she sneaked down the hall and remained unnoticed by either of the boys. One was Draco Malfoy, the other, Harry's clone.

"Don't mess with me, Draco. You know what's going on, don't you?"

Draco, who was being held up off the ground and against the wall by the shoulders of his robes, nodded weakly with a slight squeak.

"Good, then you won't mess with me, will you?"

Draco squeaked again with a shake of his head this time. The clone dropped Draco to the ground where he fell to his knees at the clone's feet.

"Get out of here," the clone sneered maliciously as Draco scampered away.

Hermione slid back into the wall and hid behind a statue. The clone passed by without even glimpsing her. She sat on the floor and ran her fingers through her hair. She was glad she was avoiding the clone. She didn't think she would be able to stand him if she still thought it was Harry, and there would have been some serious fights between them that would have hurt her more than anything.

She sighed and picked herself up off the cold, stone floor and went back to the common room as she had originally planned. She slipped to bed inconspicuously and hoped more than ever that they could get the real Harry, her Harry, back soon.

*****

So, kind of interesting, I think. You? I hope so. Please tell me in a review whether you did or you didn't, but flames shall be used to light candles as the Christmas/ Hanukkah/ Kwanzaa/ any other holiday seasons approach.

I'm glad for the response that I received from reviewers. I have never had that many reviews for one chapter before. Thanks to all of you!

Notes to the reviewers:

Moonlight: Glad you liked. Hope you liked this as well.

Sky Chief: I agree, it's weird to have a random person walking around acting as someone else and being so out of whack that it becomes stupid and annoying.

Thanks for the constructive criticism, and my sister mentioned that too when she read it. What's going on is that I was focusing on Hermione and she didn't notice Ginny's reaction and in the Great Hall she wasn't paying attention to Ron (not like anyone does) and I'm not so sure he wasn't stuffing his face rather than talking, but I guess I could have mentioned that. Thanks for the information and I hope I did better in this chapter. If I didn't say something and I'll try to incorporate it in chapter 3.

JediHermione: Intrigue is good. ^.^ I'm flattered that I'm on your favorite authors list. Thanks!

Harry and Hermione's Daughter (Gemini): Standards are just what you like and a weird way of putting it. Hope you liked this chapter too! Also, congratulations, you are the first reviewer to review one on my stories twice! Thank you!

Richelle: Yes, it is H/H. And I am a solid H/H fan that can hardly stand anything else.

TrueFan: More is to come after this too. Hope you enjoyed this chapter.

Centra-gal86: I understand that you like this. That very long "great" was a nice touch to the review. I don't usually get a big chance to update but thanks to Thanksgiving break I finished this chapter sooner than I expected.

So, thanks to all of those who took the time to read this and review it! It is much appreciated. It makes me feel like writing more and getting the story out sooner, because I know people are reading it.

Again I ask for constructive criticism if you have it, and any questions you have I'll answer as soon as I can.

KZerina ^..^


	4. Release

Hey, people! Chapter 3 is up (obviously). Please stick through to the end of the chapter even though at one point it isn't very nice. It's now rated R for those people out there who find rape kind of disturbing. It isn't graphic and it doesn't get very far at all. Also, it gets taken care of, so please don't get angry. Thanks!

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or anything associated with it.

*****

Counterpart

Chapter 3-Release

By KZerina

Harry ran his finger down his side. He could feel and count each and every rib. Starving himself was taking its toll. He'd given up wandless magic since his body wasn't allowing him to concentrate. He usually sat curled in a ball on his bunk, trying to ignore the pains of his empty stomach. He wanted to be back at Hogwarts where he could be with his friends, not worrying about being poisoned except by Professor Snape in Potions class.

Harry cringed and stared blankly at the floor. His eyes snapped up when he felt feathers beat against his ear. A tiny owl had flown through the tiny window in an adjacent cell and was now flying around Harry's cell like a maniac. It was Pig, but why was he there?

Harry reached up and snatched the owl out of the air. He trilled a tiny hoot-shriek and relaxed, recognizing Harry. He picked the letter off of Pig's leg.

"This probably isn't mine. My friends, even Ron, would not be so tactless as to send Pig, the very unintelligent owl, with a message for me, the prisoner."

Harry poked the letter through the bars to his guard who studied it stonily before taking it and temporarily leaving Harry without a guard. In this time, Harry settled Pig on his knee and pulled out a note he'd received from Hermione a week or so ago, just before he'd been abducted. He was just going to send it to Hermione with Pig, but then decided to send it with a message.

Harry slipped his hand under his mattress and pricked his finger on one of the broken metal springs, making it bleed. He wrote on the outside of the folded letter "DBL. H.P." and signed it with a lightning bolt. Using the string used for the message sent with Pig, Harry tied his hint to Pig's leg.

"Take that to _Hermione_, not Ron or whoever sent that letter. _Hermione_ only. Got it?"

The owl hooted, and Harry released him. He zipped out the window. Harry clasped his finger to his Quidditch robes where the blood wouldn't show against the red. He curled up again and breathed deeply. He closed his eyes and….

BLAM!!

Harry jumped and spun to lie on his back, propped up on his elbows.

"You left him alone!" Voldemort screamed as he stormed into the brig. "You're lucky he's weakening himself by not eating!"

Voldemort paced the room, causing Harry's scar to burn worse and worse. Voldemort was being impatient for something. When it was brought, Harry found that it was a box containing a vial of red liquid, probably a potion of some sort. Voldemort swirled it around a bit before placing the vial back into the padded box.

"Thank you."

The hooded man who had brought the potion bowed, and a few long strands of white hair fell from the hood.

"Where's that owl, Harry?"

"I let him go, and he flew away. He's too hyperactive and never sticks around for an answer. It's a concept that he just can't seem to grasp."

"Damn owl! Why did he use that one? Lucius!"

The cloaked man came forward.

"Take this and send it with one of your owls. Make sure it goes to the informant, not your son."

"Yes, my Lord."

Lucius took the box and Apparated out.

"Next time, Harry, don't let the owl leave."

Harry didn't respond. He merely glared at Voldemort indignantly and curled back up into his ball, hoping Pig would remember the proper recipient.

*****

Hermione lay on her bed, her Arithmancy book open on her pillow. She was again, for the hundredth time in the past two weeks, trying to study. The professors seemed concerned, or in Snape's case, confused that she wasn't answering as much in class, or not doing as well on tests as she usually did. In the background of her thoughts she heard her dorm mates talking about an owl and the window, finally deciding to let it in and see where it went.

Suddenly, Hermione's nose was forced into this binding of her book by something thwacking her in the back of the head. Apparently it was an owl of which they were speaking, and apparently, it was for her.

When Hermione picked her head back up, the tiny owl landed on her book and stuck out its leg. Hermione knitted her eyebrows in confusion at Pig's calmness. He was usually so hyperactive. The owl bounced on one leg urging her to take the letter. She did, and he began zooming around the heads of the girls, making them duck.

"Open the window," Hermione ordered. "Pig OUT!!!"

The owl, startled, rocketed out the window. The girls closed it before he could come back. Then, they began muttering amongst themselves that maybe Harry hadn't sent her a love letter. Maybe the boys were trying to makeup and get the trio back together. Hermione ignored them.

She opened the letter and saw that it was the one she'd given Harry a couple weeks ago. Near the center of the page, something had bled through. She flipped the sheet over and read it.

"DBL. H.P.? And a strange line? What's this mean?" she mumbled to herself, confused.

It had to be from Harry since he'd received it and didn't even show it to Ron, she didn't think. That meant that he was alive, and the funny line was probably a lightning bolt, his signature for the note. It was written in blood. She could tell by the color and the fact that he probably didn't have a quill and ink. Hermione shivered at the thought that he was injured, but the print was so fine for having been taken from an injury and daubed on the paper. Maybe he'd cut himself and written it, and he wasn't injured. It was a comforting thought, but she was still worried.

The "DBL" wasn't an acronym for something since the period was at the end rather than after each letter. Hermione wasn't sure how to put it together so she said the letters to herself many times, over and over and over. Eventually, they slurred together and created a word.

"Double!" she exclaimed, unintentionally aloud.

"What?"

"Never mind," Hermione told them quickly as she stored her book in her trunk. "I didn't mean to say it out loud."

She sat back on the bed and suddenly she felt very tired. She decided that she'd show Professor Dumbledore in the morning since it was only confirming their suspicions that it was a clone, especially if the "H.P." was his initials. She grabbed her pajamas and went into the bathroom to change, still holding the note tightly in her hand. She went back, climbed into bed, holding the note to her, and fell asleep.

A bounce on her stomach woke her. She waved her hand out over herself where she had felt it, and there she found something living with big ears.

"Dobby did not mean to scare."

"Dobby? What are you doing here?"

"Dobby needs to talk. Harry Potter acting strange. Harry Potter mean to Dobby."

"Well that's not surprising."

"But Harry Potter is never mean to Dobby. Dobby thinks there is something wrong with Harry Potter. Dobby wants to fix it, but Dobby cannot do it by himself. Dobby needs help."

"And you're coming to me for it. Well, let's go to Dumbledore. He said I could go to him at anytime, so I hope he really meant anytime. Come on, Dobby."

She quietly slipped on some decent clothes in which to visit the headmaster and told Dobby to meet her in the office. Putting the note from Harry in a pocket, she slipped out of the dormitory silently and out of the common room.

She was walking through the halls when she heard a kind of hissing behind her. She turned around and a scruffy-looking, sandy colored cat was arching its back at her. Mrs. Norris caught her, and Filch was sure to be right behind his four-footed fiend.

"Well, well, well. What did you find, my sweet?"

Filch turned the corner and sighted Hermione.

"Ah! One of Potter's group. Come!"

"Sir, I was just heading up to the headmaster's office. He said I could go anytime. Please, sir."

Filch growled at her but had a contemplating look on his face.

"We'll see if you were really going to see the headmaster."

He grabbed Hermione's arm roughly and dragged her all the way to the gargoyle where he said the password and shoved her onto the staircase. He banged on the door, and it opened gently.

"Hello, Argus, how may I help you?"

"_This_," Filch said, pushing Hermione towards Dumbledore, "was walking about the halls. It claimed it was coming to see you. I thought I'd confirm that it was doing so."

"First of all, Argus, Miss Granger is a young woman, and I wish you would treat her as such. Second, she is allowed and was doing just that, since I was expecting her."

Filch looked appalled. It didn't seem like he was able to move. He only stood there, still as a statue, open mouthed and staring at Professor Dumbledore as though he were crazy.

"You may go, Argus."

The caretaker snapped out of his trance and put on a disgruntled and angry face. The cat seemed to have picked this up and was hissing and spitting at Hermione as Filch carried her away.

Dumbledore ushered Hermione into his office and closed the door behind him.

"Dobby, here, has informed me that you were on your way. He also informed me of what happened to him and why he was here and you on your way."

Dobby was sitting in a chair. He had on neon pink trousers, the maroon jumper Ron gave him, the black sock with which Harry had freed him, and one of the yellow ones Harry had given him for Christmas, plus his tea cozy hat.

"Is there anything else you wish to be presented?"

"This, sir." Hermione held out hr hand with Harry's note and showed it to the headmaster. "It's from Harry. It proves there are two. 'DBL' is double and his initials, followed by a lightning bolt signature."

"Where'd he get the paper and ink? I'm sure they didn't give it to him."

"It's a note I gave him two weeks ago, and the ink is blood. I'm not sure if he used and injury that they gave him, or if it's self inflicted just so he could write this."

Dumbledore examined it carefully without opening it before handing it back to her with a look of concern on his face.

"I've been working on a way to get him out," Dumbledore said after a short silence. "I was going to send only Fawkes, but on second thought, it would be a better plan if Dobby went with him. I have created a portkey out of one of Dobby's eagerly donated socks. I am sending them when we are done with this conference."

"That's great, sir. Thank you."

"You are quite welcome, and you also might wish to speak with Professor McGonagall and thank her. She helped me formulate this plan."

"I'll do that, sir. Now can we send Dobby and Fawkes? I'd like to get Harry back as soon as we can."

Dumbledore smiled. "Of course. Dobby, Fawkes." He nodded to them. Fawkes disappeared in a puff of smoke and Dobby with a whip crack.

They reappeared outside the window near Harry's cell. They peered inside the small building. Harry was curled up on his bunk, seemingly asleep as was his guard who was definitely sleeping. His snores were his tell.

Dobby put his finger to his mouth and looked at Fawkes who bowed his head in understanding. Both disappeared again and reappeared inside, Dobby by Harry, Fawkes by the guard, in case he woke up.

Dobby placed his hand over Harry's mouth to keep him from making any loud noises and accidentally alerting the facility. Harry started awake and almost threw Dobby across the cell.

"Harry Potter mustn't throw Dobby, sir," the house-elf whispered. "Dobby is here to take Harry Potter home."

"Sorry, Dobby. You startled me."

Harry glanced at his sleeping guard and saw Fawkes who bowed his head in greeting. Harry smiled. He knew he was going to be fine.

"Harry Potter must take Dobby's hand, sir. Dobby will get Harry Potter out of this place."

Harry grabbed Dobby's hand, and Dobby transported them just outside of where they had been. The guard had awoken and was now screaming for back up since Fawkes was feigning jabs at the guard with his beak. Harry stifled laughs as he watched the scene unfold in front of him.

More Death Eaters came crashing into the room, followed by Voldemort. The Death Eaters began shooting curses at Fawkes who merely dodged them with a simple flap of his wings.

"Master, we can't hit it. Can you?"

"No fool, that is the phoenix from which the core of my wand came!"

"Harry Potter must use this portkey sock to get back to Hogwarts. Harry Potter must say You-Know-Who's name for it to work."

"A portkey. Why did it have to be a portkey?"

"Are you sure you can't hit it, Master?"

"I am sure!" Voldemort rolled his slit-pupiled eyes. "I'm surrounded by idiots!"

"I could have told you that," said Harry from outside.

Voldemort's head snapped up at the sound of Harry's voice. Harry lifted a hand in a sarcastic wave with a smirk.

"Voldemort," Harry whispered to the black sock in his hand. He heard Fawkes whistle mockingly as the portkey pulled at his navel, and he disappeared.

Hermione was walking down the final corridor to Gryffindor Tower. She didn't have to wake the Fat Lady since she had random insomnia that night. Hermione gave the password and entered, planning to go up to bed right away and expecting to see _her_ Harry in the morning.

She walked towards the spiral staircase, and just as she had gotten not more than a meter away, the clone stepped out of the shadows as though he had been part of them, blocking her path.

"What do you want?" she asked menacingly.

The clone only smirked evilly in reply. He walked forward, backing Hermione into a wall. He raised Harry's wand and held it to her throat. Hermione swallowed hard, watching down nervously. Her breathing and heart rate suddenly jumped to an alarming pace.

"_Silencio!_"

Hermione felt her throat tighten up. She tried to make a sound, but couldn't. She glared up into the clone's stolen green eyes. There was a malicious glint in them, and Hermione was flooded with fear. What was he going to do to her? It obviously wasn't good because she wasn't able to scream or make any kind of sound.

The clone grabbed her arm roughly and dragged her to a couch where he flung her down on her back. She would have screamed, but the Silencing Charm restrained her voice. He straddled her hips and leaned forward to whisper in her face.

"This'll hurt a little, but that won't matter since you're going to be dead when I'm through with you."

Hermione swallowed in place of a whimper. He was going to rape and kill her. Her hear and breathing picked up even more out of fear, though the clone seemed amused with her struggles.

He removed her outer robe, restraining her while she swung her hands at him. He unbuttoned her blouse since she hadn't bothered with her uniform jumper when she visited the headmaster. The clone slipped it off, revealing her breasts in their plain white bra.

Hermione shut her eyes as tight as she could. She felt tears begin to form, and the clone clicked his tongue disapprovingly at her.

"Crying isn't going to save you," he mocked.

She clenched her jaw, waiting for him to continue, but he left it at that as he nibbled at her ear and lips.

"You know why I'm doing this don't you?" the clone cooed in her ear. "You got a little too close to my secrets for comfort, so I have to dispose of you before the whole world knows that the famous Harry Potter is missing."

Hermione thrashed her head around, splashing her bushy hair into the clone's face. In response, the clone kissed and licked her neck to which she cringed. The tears began to roll down her cheeks as she gasped for air.

The clone slowly moved his lips down her neck to her collarbone and close to her breasts. She felt like dying right there. She wanted to get it over with, but the clone kept drawing it out as much as possible.

She was beginning to give up entirely when an obviously irritated voice spoke with forceful words, pausing between each one.

"Get. Off. Now."

*****

So, interesting, no? Who could be the "irritated voice," I wonder? Anyone who cares to take a guess feel free! I'll be interested to see if anyone guesses wrong. I think it's pretty obvious, but maybe it's just me.

Thank you to my reviewers! Yay!

Notes to my reviewers:

Harry and Hermione's Daughter: Glad you continue to like the story. And thanks for staying with me!

Julie Jewelrannah: Glad you liked!

Coconut-ice agent h/h: Actually, I'm used to randomness, and I followed that pretty well. Glad you like the story before and I hope you liked this.

JediHermione: I took your comments into account and I made Dumbledore and McGonagall work without Hermione's knowledge. Hope that fixed that problem. As for Ron, he's being a prat and horribly oblivious. Though it's not entirely his fault either. He did take an Obliviate; otherwise he'd be there too. Thanks to you as well for sticking with me!

Moonlight: Ron is where I said he was in the previous note, but no he's not in danger. He isn't close to what the clone is keeping under wraps. If I was allowing the rampage to continue longer than I am, yes he would be in BIG trouble, but I'm not. Also, you're welcome. I'll e-mail anyone who has an e-mail.

So, I'm sorry about the cliffhanger. I know not very many people appreciate them, but I'll try not to keep you there for very long.

I, again, ask for constructive criticism if you have any. Flames will be used to burn the books I have been forced to read and didn't like, meaning most of the books I have had to read for school.

Thanks,

KZerina ^..^


	5. Rescue

Hi! The resolution is here. Get ready to cringe. Much pain is ahead for Hermione's rescuer. Big fistfight. Most of those who guessed got the name correct on the first try. But if you didn't guess, I'm not going to spoil it for you. :p H/H fluff at the end. Enjoy! Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or anything associated with it. ***** Counterpart Chapter 4-Rescue By KZerina "I said. Get. Off." The clone's eyes flicked to the corners of his eyes so he could look at his attacker. "Now you don't want to use that, do you?" he said. "You'll kill yourself, too." "That's something I'm willing to do if it comes to it." Hermione slowly opened her eyes. Above them, she saw Harry with his wand in his hand and the tip of it at the base of the clone's skull. Her heart skipped a beat as she realized he was back. "Fool. Kill yourself for another," mocked the clone. "Ah, the chivalry of the Gryffindor." Harry didn't reply. He only stood there with a furious stare to his intense green eyes. He was breathing deeply to calm himself. "There's only room for one Harry Potter in this school." "Yeah, the real one." In the blink of an eye, Harry slipped his wand into his Quidditch arm guard and punched the clone in the jaw, smacking his head into the couch. The clone was dazed as he rubbed his jaw. He obviously hadn't expected Harry to punch him. The clone leapt from the couch, pouncing at Harry, but by the time he decided this, Harry had acquired a fighting stance and threw the clone off course. Hermione bolted upright and saw the clone bash into the wall. After a grunt, the clone pounced once again at Harry and planted a swift sidekick in Harry's shoulder. Harry grabbed his shoulder trying to ease the pain, receiving another kick to his jaw. He grabbed the edge of the couch to regain his balance and leverage. The clone lunged and collided with Harry's outstretched foot, sending him flying backwards and landing hard. The clone stood up slowly, clutching his stomach. This time he was a little more cautious about Harry. He knew that even when he was at the disadvantage, Harry would not be easily brought to his knees. Another strategy was needed. He crouched and ran at Harry, ending with a flying sidekick. Harry crossed his wrists and held them in front of his body. When the clone's foot made contact, Harry separated his wrists, and the clone fell to the ground. Harry massaged his arms, but quickly brought his foot up to kick the clone in the face. The clone dodged and looked smug, not expecting Harry's heel to come back down and slam his shoulder to the ground. Harry then brought his other foot around in a hook kick to the clone's jaw, leaving a small gash with from the heel of his Quidditch boot. The clone jumped up and landed a roundhouse kick to Harry's ribs, surely cracking some. While Harry was stunned, the clone forced his fist to Harry's nose with a sickening crunch. Hermione gasped and covered her mouth with her hand. Tears streamed down her face as she helplessly observed the battle. Harry cupped his hand to his nose, blood flowing across his fingers. Pain shot through his skull, sending his ears ringing. Regaining some of his senses, he looked up and saw the clone's fist heading straight for the back of his neck where if it hit, would knock him out cold instantly, but, catching it in time, Harry flung his hand up to block it, inadvertently spraying blood into the clone's face. The clone was distracted. Harry dropped to the floor and slid a sweeping kick beneath the clone's feet, causing him to fall sideways to the ground with a thud. The clone, obviously angered, lunged and pinned Harry to the ground with his arms clasped to his sides by the clone's knees. Harry struggled, but he couldn't wriggle himself free as the clone began continually punched him in the face. Harry cringed with each blow, trying to think of a way to buy himself some more time to get away, coming up with a blank. Blow after blow and nothing came until only one thing might work. He pinched the clone on the thigh. The clone growled and pulled back for a heavy punch between the eyes. Harry clenched his eyes tight in anticipation of the hit. "Clonus Kedavra!" Harry looked up, and the clone disintegrated, all except Harry's robe and slippers. The robe fell onto Harry's face, causing him to sneeze through his bloody broken nose. He clutched it as an excruciating pain lingered there. He pushed the robe off his face with his free hand. He felt a sudden weight on his stomach and cocked a fist back, ready to strike before realizing it was only Hermione. He whimpered, knowing he could in front of her without feeling like a complete wimp. "Hermione, could you get off, please?" Harry wheezed through a clenched jaw and barely moving lips. "I'm pretty sure some of my ribs are cracked." He felt her move immediately, but heard nothing. Harry opened one eye to look at her. She seemed apologetic, but she made no sound. "What's wrong? Did he silence you?" Hermione nodded slowly. "Silencio?" Another nod. Harry reached into his arm guard and pulled out his wand, groaning in disgust as he got blood all over the handle. He pointed it at Hermione's throat and muttered the counter spell before groaning in pain once more. "I'm so sorry, Harry. I didn't mean to hurt you, really." Harry didn't reply with anything but a groan of acknowledgement, making Hermione notice that he was more beat up and battered than he looked. "We need to get you to the Hospital Wing, Harry." Harry groaned again and cringed as he breathed. Hermione took his hand and tried to make him sit up, but he groaned and pulled his hand back to him. Hermione urged him gently, gaining only more grumbles. "She's right, Harry," Professor Dumbledore said suddenly after being silent throughout the rest of it. "You are terribly injured and need healing. Come on, Harry. Let us go." His voice was gentle, yet firm as though he were ordering Harry to get up. No matter how much he wanted to stay lying on the floor, he couldn't disobey Dumbledore. Slowly but surely, Harry began sitting up and with the aid of Hermione and Dumbledore, he was soon standing. With a friend under each shoulder, they began walking toward the portrait hole. "Wait, wait," Harry said, using Hermione's shoulder to balance all of his weight to both of his own feet. He unlaced the front of his Quidditch robes and swung them over Hermione's bare shoulders and handing her the lace with which to string it back up. Dumbledore, realizing what Harry was doing, gathered Hermione's blouse and school robes and brought them along to the Hospital Wing. On the way, Filch was heard grumbling about not being able to catch "Potter or his little girl friend." The company probably would have found it quite amusing had they not had more important things on their minds. Upon arrival, the Headmaster woke Madam Pomfrey while Harry's support rested on Hermione. Madam Pomfrey hobbled out, still drowsy, saw Harry and nearly had a heart attack. "Oh, my goodness! Harry, what did you do!? Just lie down over there on that bed, on your back mind," she ordered, running to retrieve various ointments, balms, potions, and healing liquids. Hermione helped Harry stagger over to the bed where he painfully eased himself down onto it. Hermione swung his legs up and supported his back as he reclined. She brushed a strand of his messy hair off of his forehead and gently stroked his forehead with one finger. Harry once looked up at her finger and made no sound as he painfully breathed. To Harry, her gentle touch was very comforting. It helped him relax, and, in a way, it took away some of the pain he felt because he knew she would be right there beside him. "Can you sit up, dear? We need to get these shirts off you." Madam Pomfrey had returned with numerous bottles for healing. Hermione slipped off his glasses and arm gear and put them on the bedside table. Madam Pomfrey and Hermione somehow managed to remove his Quidditch jumper and the shirt he wore underneath off his mostly limp body and laid him gently back onto the bed. "My goodness, Harry! What did you do to yourself?" gasped Madam Pomfrey, laying eyes upon Harry's starved and broken state. "You're a bag of broken bones!" Hermione cried. "You think I didn't notice?" he cringed in reply. Harry held his breath as the nurse examined each of his injuries, pain shooting through each bone, bruise, and cut she touched. Hermione held his hand through the whole thing. Madam Pomfrey first healed his ribs so he could breathe painlessly, as long as he did so through his mouth. Then she healed his nose so he could breathe more comfortably. Finally, she tended to his black eyes and other facial and bodily bruises, reducing the swelling first, then making them disappear altogether. It was a great relief to Harry. The pain was gone and he could sleep in peace, knowing he wasn't going to be murdered in the middle of the night or poisoned at breakfast the next morning. He was also lucky to have people around him who cared about him as much as they did. He wasn't sure he'd survive without them. "Now you need to sit up and eat something. Shoes need to come off, too." Harry groaned. He was very tired and wanted to sleep, not eat something. Luckily, Hermione was there. She helped him sit up and removed his boots, too, though Harry protested that it wasn't necessary since they'd been on his feet for two weeks straight. She didn't seem to care. She asked him if she could borrow his wand and used some sort of charm on his feet. Madam Pomfrey returned with a tray of soft foods. Harry, even though his was hungry, didn't feel much like eating. He was very tired and wanted to sleep. "Eat! You need to get some food in your system, or your body won't accept it later." Harry sighed and slouched even more than he already was. He ached all over and only wanted rest. Hermione sat on the edge of his bed and caressed his cheek lightly. She took a spoonful of soup and put it to his lips. This is what he had been brought down to, being fed like a baby, but then, it wasn't so bad. It was only Hermione, Dumbledore, and Madam Pomfrey. None of them were going to make fun of him. He gratefully accepted the spoonful and eventually ate the whole bowl at Hermione's hand. Hermione smiled at him and took the tray to Madam Pomfrey. When she returned, she handed him a pair of pajamas and allowed him to change into them before helping him settle down to sleep. Hermione changed and climbed into bed as Professor Dumbledore left, and Madam Pomfrey went to bed. Just as she was getting comfortable, the events of the whole night came crashing down on her. The clone, the rape attempt, the heart-wrenching battle, and the pain it caused Harry. She couldn't help it. Tears rolled down her cheeks, silently at first, but then she started hyperventilating. Her nose clogged, and she sniffed. "You all right?" Hermione caught her breath. Harry waited a while, never receiving an answer. "You okay?" he repeated. Hermione sniffed and shifted in her bed. Harry wasn't supposed to hear her. "Do you want to talk about it?" "Mm-mm," she squeaked, shaking her head. "You're just going to lie over there and cry about it?" "Mm-hm," was her answer. Harry sat up, his muscles screaming. He grunted quietly. His gaze moved to Hermione's still form. "You want to come over here and cry about it?" Hermione gasped. She turned her head slightly to see Harry with her peripheral vision. "Do you mean it?" "Yeah. Why wouldn't I?" Hermione turned all the way over and looked at Harry whose face showed much concern. She slowly raised herself and walked over to Harry's bed. She put her arms around his shoulders, and he placed his around her waist. "Here." Harry shifted over, giving Hermione room to lie down on the bed next to him. Both lay back on the bed, and Hermione curled up against him, her head on his shoulder. Tears fell there, and Harry was much more comforting than the pillow. He kept his arm around her even after he'd fallen asleep. She smiled and snuggled in closer. She fell asleep soon after. ***** So, that was painful, sappy, and cute. It's not quite the end. I have a resolution chapter to write. I'm sorry. It might not get out for a while since I have some big art projects and exams coming up, so apologize ahead of time. Notes to my reviewers: Scholcomp1: Interesting is always good. Glad you liked. Coconut-ice agent h/h: I'm sorry. I know people don't like cliffhangers. I don't either, but it's fun to see the reactions of the reviewers sometimes. And again, I have much randomness in my life so I follow you pretty well. :) Harry and Hermione's Daughter: So, did you like this chapter? H/H! Yay! XT-Zealot: I'm glad the clone is someone my readers love to kill. That was the point. Moonlight: Right on the second try. I got this out as soon as I could. I had to make the fight scene realistic (like using a move that would knock someone out and then have him keep fighting. That would be stupid.) I'll email you when I update or get another story up if you want. And for anyone else who reads this I'll do the same for you too if you have an e-mail address. Fire bolt 4.5: Will do! Nymoue: I'm sorry. I didn't mean to be cruel! Centra-gal86: Harry punched him! After he said it, but he did punch him. Thanks for the wonderful usage of the word "awesome." Great booster! Jedi Hermione: Harry is back! Hope you liked this chapter! And I apologize again. Thanks. KZerina 


	6. Hogsmeade

Hello, sorry about the lateness of the part. School caught up to me- projects, semester exams, etc. Then the computers all conspired against me and wouldn't let me type it after it was written. This was originally going to be one part, but it got too long so split it up into two parts. Hope you enjoy this one!  
  
*****  
  
Counterpart Chapter 5-Hogsmeade By KZerina  
  
Hermione opened her eyes slowly. She yawned and lifted her head from its rhythmic pillow. At first she had forgotten that she fell asleep on Harry and startled herself, but then she remembered and smiled and gave him a hug that caused him to stir. She nestled her head back into Harry's shoulder. Harry took a deep breath and groaned. Hermione felt a hand rub her shoulder gently. She looked up into Harry's smiling face.  
  
She returned the smile and slid up and kissed him on the lips.  
  
"What was that for?" Harry asked surprised.  
  
"You saved my life didn't you?" she replied. "You deserve it."  
  
Harry looked away as his cheeks flushed a light pink. Hermione giggled and hugged him.  
  
"I was just coming to wake you two," Madam Pomfrey said with a smile and a raised eyebrow at the two students in one bed.  
  
Hermione recoiled back into Harry who looked at her, wondering what she was doing. He knew Madam Pomfrey wouldn't have a problem with it, or he wouldn't have offered.  
  
"Don't worry, dear, I saw it all. I heard you crying and came out to see if I could help, but by then, Harry had gotten it under control."  
  
Hermione looked at Harry. His cheeks were pink, though she wasn't sure if he had just turned or was still that way.  
  
"Ron came by a bit ago. He was looking for Harry. You should have seen his face when he saw you two so close together," the nurse laughed. "It was priceless."  
  
"I can only imagine," Harry said. "Too bad you didn't have a camera."  
  
"Yes, well. You two have a choice. You may stay here and I'll have food brought up for you, or you may go to the Great Hall and have breakfast there. Go ahead and talk about it. I'll be right back."  
  
Both students sat up. Harry kept his hand on the small of Hermione's back, continuing to offer comfort if she needed it. Hermione wasn't about to complain. Harry could be as close as he could possibly get to her, and she wouldn't complain. She leaned back into Harry and laid her head on his shoulder. Harry shifted to a more comfortable position and wrapped his arms around her shoulders.  
  
"So, here or the Great Hall?" he asked.  
  
"Great Hall. I think we owe Ron an explanation."  
  
Harry nodded his agreement when Madam Pomfrey bustled back over to them carrying a goblet, which she handed to Harry. It contained a smooth, yellow potion.  
  
Harry made a disgusted face at it. "Do I have to?"  
  
"What do you think?"  
  
"Thought so," Harry sighed. "Well bottoms up." He tipped the cup and his head back and dumped the liquid down his throat. When he brought it down, he looked like he was about to be sick, but with a few deep breaths, he was fine. He handed the goblet back to Madam Pomfrey who whisked it away.  
  
"Are you all right?"  
  
"Yeah. It's supposed to help stiffness. For the most part, I've only found it to be disgusting with a tiny bit of relaxation for my muscles, but I don't argue with Madam Pomfrey. It's not worth it."  
  
Hermione smiled and leaned back on Harry again.  
  
When the nurse returned, she bore two packs of clothes, one Harry's, one Hermione's. She handed each the appropriate set, which the students put on privately. When fully dressed, Harry and Hermione headed off to the Great Hall for breakfast.  
  
When they arrived, they found Ron sitting with the other fifth year boys, his brothers, and Lee Jordan. Harry sat next to Ron and Hermione next to Harry.  
  
"They were right next to each other! In the same bed! They'd been ready to tear each other apart for the past two weeks."  
  
Ron was talking to his company at breakfast. All six of his addressees snorted a laugh, having seen Harry and Hermione sit down.  
  
"It's not funny!" Ron scolded. "Okay, so it's kind of funny, but it's weird!"  
  
"What's weird?" Harry asked innocently, knowing full well of what his friend was speaking.  
  
Ron jumped sky high, knocking over his goblet of pumpkin juice.  
  
"Oi, Ron! Watch where you're flinging your hands! I took a shower this morning. I don't need a bath, too, especially not in your pumpkin juice!" exclaimed one of the Weasley twins, waving his wand at the orange liquid flowing across the table towards him.  
  
"So, Ron, what was weird?" Harry repeated.  
  
"Yeah, Ron, what was weird?" Hermione added, also knowing exactly what was weird, having heard enough of the conversation to comprehend.  
  
"Hi, Harry, Hermione," Ron all but squeaked.  
  
"Hello, Ron. Now, for the third time, what was weird?"  
  
"Ron, you git," George said.  
  
"Can't you tell they know?" Fred asked his quivering brother.  
  
Ron shrank back with a nervous grin on his face. "They do?"  
  
Everyone around him nodded, excluding Harry and Hermione. Ron looked over at them and swallowed hard. They weren't quite sure why he was worried, but it was rather amusing to see him squirming like this.  
  
"You know?"  
  
Harry and Hermione nodded in unison, both with the same strange smirk on their face. Ron swallowed again and paled, making his freckles stand out horribly.  
  
Harry couldn't help it. He burst out laughing. Hermione did also. Soon the contagious action spread to Ron's original six companions. Ron was suddenly confused and his face completely showed it, creating an even funnier image with more inevitable laughs.  
  
Leaving Ron confused, Seamus asked, "So does what Ron explained to us mean anything, or is Ron just out of his mind?"  
  
"He's out of his mind," both Harry and Hermione answered simultaneously, causing themselves to laugh.  
  
"Were you actually in the same bed?"  
  
"Yeah," Harry responded, "but nothing happened except for regular old sleeping. I don't know about her, but I was too tired to do anything else, even eat, which I'm going to do now."  
  
With that, Harry spooned food onto his plate and ate quickly, yet not so fast as to disgust the people around him. Hermione smiled, knowing what happened and why he was stuffing his face, while the other boys looked at him strangely, naïve to the events of the past two weeks.  
  
Ron, finally regaining himself, asked, "So what was actually going on down there in the Hospital Wing? I mean, it's weird. For the past two weeks, you two were like predators fighting over territory or something; then suddenly you two were sharing the same bed!"  
  
"I never fought with Harry, especially not like you just described it."  
  
"What's wrong with you? Do you have amnesia?"  
  
"No, I've never fought with Harry."  
  
"Then what do you call the past two weeks?"  
  
"Not Harry."  
  
"What do you mean 'not Harry'? He was sitting right next to me every morning," Ron argued.  
  
"Actually, I was lying on a horribly, lumpy and uncomfortable bed in a disgusting cell with food that I wasn't about to eat sitting on the floor beside me," Harry explained to a very confused Ron. "That's why I'm so thin and eating so quickly."  
  
"Stop the joke. You look fine to me. You aren't skin and bones."  
  
Harry untucked his shirt partway and showed Ron the lower half of his ribs, which were still blatantly showing. Very seriously, he looked back up at Ron whose face was full of shock.  
  
"It's not a joke, Ron. I've told you the part of the story that I am authorized to tell you. The rest is not for here and for Hermione to tell if she wants. Now, if you two would please stop arguing over me," Harry said in a tone that meant the conversation was over.  
  
Hermione gave Ron a smug look and was tempted to stick her tongue out, but refrained from doing so since she was more mature than that, and she didn't want to receive a glare from Harry.  
  
Ron continued to stare at Harry in disbelief at what he had been shown. He swallowed and seemed as though his appetite had left completely, an unusual occasion for Ron.  
  
"Ron," a twin said, "you're not eating. Are you all right?"  
  
Ron nodded slowly, but dazed. "Not hungry."  
  
The other boys stared in astonishment. Harry and Hermione looked on seriously, knowing he felt guilty at not recognizing the problem.  
  
"Ron," Hermione said gently, "It wasn't all your fault for not knowing. The clone put a memory charm on you in the owlery. That time you mentioned our fighting. If you'd been suspicious before, it was all erased."  
  
"That doesn't excuse me. I had another week to recognize it, and I didn't. I feel like such an idiot."  
  
"And who's to say he hadn't put more on you?" Hermione added, "Ones that none of us know about."  
  
"It's all right, Ron," Harry assured. "He had to have been good for them to at least attempt to pull it off. That's why I sent Hermione a hint. It turns out she already knew, but I wasn't sure how it was going here."  
  
Ron looked up at Harry.  
  
"You're fine. I just didn't want you two arguing. It gets annoying after a while."  
  
"But you're starved!"  
  
"That's why I'm eating now. I'll be back to normal in a couple of weeks or so. Don't worry about it."  
  
"I still don't have an appetite," Ron said, pushing his plate away and leaning on the table. "I feel so guilty. I should have known."  
  
Harry only sighed at Ron. "If you're not going to eat that, I will. No sense wasting it," Harry said, motioning to Ron's rejected plateful of breakfast food.  
  
"Go ahead."  
  
"Thanks," Harry replied, eating the last of what was on his plate and placing Ron's upon it.  
  
Just as Harry was about to put his fork in his mouth, his face almost became full of scrambled egg. He had been accosted from behind by someone who was apparently overjoyed to see him, judging by the high-pitched squeal that accompanied the ecstatic embrace.  
  
"You're back! You're back! You're back!"  
  
"Ginny, get off, please," Harry wheezed as he was still a bit achy. "Yes, I'm back. I'm glad you've figured that out."  
  
"Well, Hermione was sitting with you, not me, so I knew things were back to normal, if you can call this normal," Ginny explained, gesturing towards a depressed Ron. "What happened to your plate? Did you eat it, too?"  
  
Ron pointed at Harry.  
  
"Why's he eating your plate?"  
  
"Not my plate, my food. I'm not hungry."  
  
"You? Not hungry? Who'd have ever thought he'd give up food?"  
  
"Shut up, Ginny. You'd lose your appetite, too."  
  
"Yeah, sure," she mocked.  
  
Harry had continued to eat, ignoring Ron and Ginny-that is until he felt a cold brush of air on his back. Harry whipped around and smacked Ron's hand away. He smoothed his shirt and glared at Ron for lifting it.  
  
"Okay, Ron, you're right," Ginny said, a bit unnerved. "What did they do to you, Harry? You're skin and bones."  
  
"By choice," he replied. "They gave me food and got angry when I wasn't going to eat it. I didn't know. It could have been poisoned."  
  
"We're not hungry either," the twins said simultaneously in the same unnerved tone as was in Ginny's voice.  
  
"I'll eat that, too."  
  
"Be our guest."  
  
"Harry," Hermione said, "if you eat too much, you're going to make yourself sick."  
  
"You try starving yourself for two weeks."  
  
"No thanks. I've seen the results. I know there are some girls who would kill to be that thin, but I'm not one of them."  
  
Harry smiled. "Good."  
  
"You're sure there's nothing going on?"  
  
"Yes!" both Harry and Hermione said too quickly to sound believable to anyone but themselves. The others exchanged suspicious glances and left it at that.  
  
When Harry finished the contents of Ron's and the twins' plates, the group got up and went to Gryffindor Tower. Once there and in the fifth year boys' dormitory, everyone but Harry urged Hermione to tell her part of the story that Harry wouldn't tell them. She was very reluctant to do so. It had been a traumatizing experience, and if it hadn't been for Harry's willingness to comfort her the previous night, she would have made herself very sick. She didn't really want to retell it.  
  
She flopped back on Harry's bed, gaining a strange look from Harry since she had lain back on his knees. She shifted to be more comfortable, earning an even stranger look.  
  
"You aren't being very supportive."  
  
"It's your decision. Whatever you decide, I'll support that, but other than that, there nothing much I can do. Now, lying on my shins can't be very comfortable. I'm more than willing to share the actual mattress if you'd prefer."  
  
Hermione smiled sheepishly and a small flush touched her cheeks as she sat up. Harry slid over a bit, and Hermione leaned beside Harry against his upright pillow.  
  
"I think not," she told Harry quietly. "Ron'll freak even more, and I don't really want everyone else to know."  
  
"That's fine. I know the feeling. I'll do what I can to make them leave you alone. 'Kay?"  
  
Hermione nodded. "Not now. I just want to let things work themselves out of my system first. I don't want to breakdown in the middle of the story."  
  
"But, Hermi-"  
  
Ron stopped in mid-sentence as he received a glare from Harry. He smiled sheepishly and shut his mouth for a while.  
  
"Thank you."  
  
Hermione leaned her head on Harry's shoulder in gratitude. He smiled and comfortingly put his arm around her shoulders. The others looked at them and stifled laughs. Harry rolled his eyes at them.  
  
"It has to do with the story that she doesn't want to tell. Now those males who do not sleep in this room can go away unless you're here for something other than her story." He looked pointedly at Fred and George who got up and left.  
  
Seamus and Dean relaxed on their beds and eventually fell asleep. Hermione made Ron do his homework and proceeded to teach Harry what he'd missed while the clone was taking his classes. They went to lunch and dinner, played chess and Exploding Snap.  
  
At one point, Professor McGonagall entered the Tower, searching for Harry and Hermione.  
  
"You two do realize that you must return to the Hospital Wing, tonight, don't you?"  
  
"Since when?" Harry asked. "She let us go this morning. I thought she let us out until we got injured or sick again."  
  
"It would seem not, Harry. At ten o'clock you need to be back there. She wants you to spend tonight there, just in case."  
  
"Oh, all right," Harry confirmed as the Professor left. "We've got about an hour," he told Hermione who nodded.  
  
The three continued to play chess for the next half and hour or so and even together, Harry and Hermione couldn't beat Ron once.  
  
They both stuffed pajamas and a set of clothes for the next day into their school bags and headed down to the Hospital Wing for the night after saying goodbye to Ron.  
  
Madam Pomfrey greeted them as they arrived and had them change for bed. Harry, who had donned a pair of gray sweatpants and a white, sleeveless t- shirt, was dressed first. Madam Pomfey gave him another goblet of the smooth, yellow potion that supposedly helped his aches. He downed it willingly and climbed into bed.  
  
Hermione had climbed into bed as well, but after the nurse had gone to bed, she got up and jumped from one foot to the other across the cold stone floor over to where Harry was sleeping. She gently nudged him. His body tensed as he quickly woke, startling Hermione. Harry relaxed and apologized as soon as he realized it was Hermione.  
  
"It's okay. You just surprised me, that's all," she explained. "So, um, I was wondering if I could, um, you know.."  
  
"Stay here again tonight?"  
  
Hermione nodded, blushing. Luckily for her, it was dark so he hadn't seen her face.  
  
"Of course. As long as you need to."  
  
Hermione was surprised, not because he was letting her stay that night, but that she could stay as long as she needed, or wanted, since he wouldn't know why she was there with him. She knew she shouldn't do that to him, but the temptation was high. She wanted to be close to him. She knew she might eventually have to tell him how she felt, but she'd deal with that when it came down to it.  
  
Harry shifted over, and Hermione climbed in with him. Once she was settled, Harry moved in closer to her and wrapped his arms around her. Hermione snuggled back into him, and he didn't budge, except to shift into a more comfortable position, but not any farther from her.  
  
There she fell asleep-warm, comfortable, and secure in Harry's arms.  
  
Harry kept true to his offer. Even after they were out of the Hospital Wing, she was able to stay with him in the boys' dormitory.  
  
The first night out, she honestly tried to sleep in her own bed. She tossed and turned and tried to get comfortable, and when she finally fell asleep, she woke up from a nightmare. She sighed heavily and grabbed her robe. Fortunately, the boys were up later than they should have been.  
  
Hermione gently knocked on the door. She heard a bit of arguing before the door finally opened. Harry stood behind it, his brows knitted in concern.  
  
"You okay?"  
  
Hermione looked at her feet and shook her head. She went right to Harry and leaned against him, tears silently leaking onto his chest. Harry put his arm around her and caressed her back with a soft touch that she didn't know could come from him.  
  
"You can still stay here if it would help."  
  
Hermione nodded. "I'd like that. Thanks."  
  
Harry smiled and led her into the room. At first they got strange looks from Harry's dorm mates, but once they saw the tears on her cheeks, they knew what was happening.  
  
Harry led Hermione to his bed and sat her down there. He wiped her tears away with his hand and told her to get comfortable. As she did, Harry climbed in behind her.  
  
***  
  
At the end of the week was a Hogsmeade weekend. Hermione told Harry about Sirius's visit. He became a little annoyed that she hadn't told him sooner, but she explained that in all the commotion, when it came to her, there wasn't a chance to tell him and when there was a chance to tell him, he wasn't there to tell.  
  
All Harry did was smile. She had explained all of the situation very quickly, and it was quite amusing when she did so.  
  
"Hermione," Harry said, "don't freak. I understand. Let's just go."  
  
"Oh. All right. Just let me grab some stuff."  
  
Harry waited in the common room for Ron and Hermione and when they both arrived, the trio headed to the nearby wizarding village.  
  
Ron was heading off to Zonko's, but stopped when he was nearly choked by his grabbed collar.  
  
"Ah! What was that for?"  
  
"We're shopping later," Harry replied. "We have someone to meet right now."  
  
"What? Since when? Who?"  
  
"We have someone to meet. Hermione made the appointment while I was gone, and I hope you can figure out who it is. Come on."  
  
Ron remained confused as they approached the gate where they were to meet Sirius. A low growl met their ears. They looked forward and a large, black dog glared at Harry with bared teeth.  
  
Sirius hopped the fence and separated Harry from the other two. Harry was very surprised. He looked from Sirius to Hermione. Hermione moved between Harry and Sirius.  
  
"Snuffles, it's okay. It's him. It's Harry-the real one. He's back. The clone is gone-for good. It's all right."  
  
Sirius looked suspiciously at Harry and slowly stalked forward and sniffed Harry's hand. He nudged it gently with his cold, wet nose. Harry slowly moved his hand and rubbed Sirius's head between the ears.  
  
Sirius's ears rose as he looked up at Harry. He jumped up and tackled Harry to the ground with his large paws on Harry's chest and tongue lapping at Harry's face.  
  
"Hey! Snuffles! Stop! Let me up!"  
  
Sirius immediately sat next to Harry who was wiping his face with his sleeve. Harry smiled and hugged his godfather around his furry neck.  
  
"Come on. Let's go up there," Harry said, indicating the cave in which Sirius would hide while he was near Hogwarts.  
  
Once they arrived, Sirius transformed and pulled Harry into an enormous hug of relief. Harry felt like Mrs. Weasley was hugging him after a summer with the Dursleys.  
  
"I'm so glad you're okay! They didn't hurt you did they?"  
  
"No, Sirius. They needed me for something," Harry choked in reply. "And, Sirius.could you let go? It's a little hard to breathe like this."  
  
Sirius jumped back at once and apologized profusely.  
  
"It's all right. Oh, here." Harry pulled out a sack and handed it over to his godfather.  
  
"What is it?" Sirius set the parcel on the ground and opened the drawstring top. Inside was food-real food. "Thanks, Harry."  
  
Sirius ate a bit of the food and offered to wander Hogsmeade with them, as a dog of course. The trio accepted, and they went back and forth through the town, Sirius occasionally getting scratched behind the ears, a long petting, or even someone playing with him while Harry, Ron, and Hermione went into a store, though if they didn't have to, they never left Sirius outside by himself.  
  
Once they ran into Draco who took one look at Harry and noted that he had a large, black, furry companion, who looked very menacing, and high-tailed it in the other direction, leaving laughing Gryffindors and a barking dog in his wake of dust.  
  
****  
  
Notes to my reviewers:  
  
Nymoue: Really sorry it took so long. I didn't mean for it to take nearly as long as it did at all! Thanks for the wonderful second review. Please wait for the last chapter that is mostly written already.  
  
Harry and Hermione's Daughter: I guess the fight turned out as I hoped. Thanks. There's more H/H stuff like that in the next one, too. Oh, and thanks for the reassurance of time! It's much appreciated.  
  
Coconut-ice agent h/h: I know it's disgusting but that sets the mood and sets up for the cute stuff. It's nice to know that it was good-"a joy to read" may be going a little far, but.whatever floats your boat.  
  
Gaheris: Glad I could help!  
  
XT-Zealot: I guess a super saiyan would be more painful, wouldn't it? Hee, hee. I could have done that, but it would have been very odd to randomly have a super saiyan pop out of the middle of nowhere. Out of curiosity, would the clone have disintegrated?  
  
JediHermione: *STORY SPOILER* It ends with a stupid comment from Ron and things being flung across the room. It's not a major spoiler or anything, but oh well.  
  
Moonlight: Sweet is good! I apologize for lateness. As I explained before, computer strike and homework overload. Hope this and the next chapter are full of enough sweet for you.  
  
Mesozoic Flower: No signed review? Oh, well. Yes, there's more.still. Don't freak. It's quite hazardous to your health, and I don't want to deal with that at school. LOL.  
  
So thanks to all of my reviewers! I shall e-mail you in hopefully about a month or so (that's after my 8-15 page research paper is due) with an update! I hope you can wait that long. The next chapter is mostly H/H fluffy stuff so stay tuned if that's what you want.  
  
Thanks, KZerina ^..^ 


	7. Of Chickens and Relationships

Hey, I know it took more than the promised month to get this up. This is the last chapter of "Counterpart." I have the sequel to "Pseudomortis," the prequel to "Pseudomortis" called "Portkey," and a story that I have come to call "Runaway" coming up after this. Hope to see you return to read those stories.

Now that's enough of a delay and onto for what you all have been waiting…(drum-roll please)…Chapter 6!

***

Counterpart

Chapter 6-Of Chickens and Relationships

By KZerina

Hermione stayed in the boys' dormitory for two weeks. The first few nights, part of her was using the security. The part that just wanted to stay with him became addicted and couldn't leave.

One evening while the other boys were out of the dormitory, Harry confronted her.

"Hermione," he said, "you've been here for two weeks. Is the trauma worse than I thought? I can help only to a limit, and we have to find something else if it reaches beyond that limit."

Hermione was silent. She was going to have to tell Harry how she felt about him and her addiction. She had dreaded this moment for a while, but now she had to push that away and tell him.

"No, Harry, it's not worse than you thought."

"The first few nights, I needed the security you provided, but then, I became, um, addicted."

Harry was confused. He wasn't quite sure what she meant. "Addicted?"

"Well, you see, um…I'm kind of…."

Hermione glanced up. Harry looked expectant. He knew what she was going to say was important, but not what it was.

"I love you," she said very quickly, kissing Harry's lips briefly before walking away.

She stopped when she felt her wrist grabbed. She turned back and looked at Harry who pulled her into his lap. Hermione couldn't look him in the eyes; only at the ground by his feet.

Harry turned her head toward him and kissed her in return. Hermione opened her eyes wide in surprise. Her breath caught, and she sat there staring in disbelief.

When he pulled away, he bit his lip and smiled. Hermione reflected it. Then Harry pulled Hermione close to him.

"You know what?" Harry whispered.

"What?"

"It's mutual."

Hermione kissed him and knocked him backwards onto his pillow. Both wanted this to last an eternity, and it almost felt like it did.

"Oi, Ron! What'd you do that for?" came a voice from the other side of the door.

Harry and Hermione snapped up immediately. Harry scrambled around and got the first book he found which happened to be his Transfiguration book. He opened it up and Hermione acted as though she were explaining the latest concept to him.

Seamus barged in past Ron and looked back confused. He didn't see any reason not to have gone into the room.

"Ron, you're insane."

"But—but they were…."

"Studying?"

"It's upside-down," Harry whispered, quickly and inconspicuously turning the book over so no one would notice.

"I'm sorry. You opened it."

"You didn't notice."

"What are you two whispering about?"

"She's giving me answers to the test," Harry answered jokingly.

"I want the answers to the test!"

"Oh, Ron! I am not giving him answers to the test. We don't even have a set date for it yet."

"That's never stopped you before."

"I didn't say that. I merely stated it because _he _wouldn't be studying since we don't have one."

"Humpf."

A knock on the door caught their attention. It opened and in came the twins.

"Oi, Ron, we need you to test these."

"No way. After about sixteen years you'd think I'd know by now."

"Well, either you eat one, or you find some other sucker to."

"Your choice."

"Fine. Give me those," Ron grumbled, storming out the door with the bag of Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes. The twins followed on his heels, curiously awaiting the results of their newest experiment.

"Why _did_ we come up here?" Seamus asked after watching the Weasleys go out the door.

"I don't remember," Dean answered.

"Why don't you go back to the place you think you thought of it and maybe you'll remember," Neville offered.

"Hey! Good idea, Neville! Thanks!"

With that the boys left.

Neville walked to the open door, looked both ways into the corridor, and quietly closed it.

Harry and Hermione turned back to the Transfiguration book, both expecting Neville to go study or something. When he sat on the foot of Harry's bed, they expected him to ask for homework help.

"Um…this is going to be very awkward and I don't know why I'm even asking, but are you two going out or something? I mean, I saw Harry turn the book over and over Ron's arm I thought I saw you two…uh—kissing or something."

Harry and Hermione just stared at him. It was ironic that the usually unobservant Neville would figure out that they were unofficially "going out."

"Could you stop—staring at me? Please?"

"Sorry, Neville," Hermione said, "but…it's just—"

"We weren't expecting _that_," Harry finished. "We expected you to ask for help on homework."

Neville looked at his feet, blushing, embarrassed about having asked them anything about _them_.

"It's all right, Neville," Hermione said, putting a gentle hand on Neville's shoulder.

"Congratulations, Neville. You're the first one, besides us, to know of our unofficial relationship. That's something isn't it?"

Neville smiled. He never got to know anything first—well, not anything good anyway. He was still kind of embarrassed that he'd seen, but happy that they didn't care.

"We should have been more careful," Hermione said. Harry agreed.

The door slammed open, making all three of them jump. Ron came huffing into the dormitory still carrying the sack of Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes. He flopped onto his bed, fuming as Fred and George entered.

"Come on, Ron. None of them ate one, so you have to," George said.

"I am not eating one!"

"You have to. You didn't sucker anyone into it so it's your job now," repeated Fred.

"What do they do?"

"They're supposed to give you buck teeth and bat's wings ears," explained Fred.

"Why don't you give 'em to the Slytherins?" Harry suggested.

"Give 'em to Malfoy!"

"Ron, you're just a CHICKEN!"

"Am not!"

"Then why don't you eat one?" Harry mocked.

"Don't you get in on this, too."

"Why not? It's fun."

Ron glared at Harry who only smirked back. "If you're so smart, then why don't you eat one?"

"The bat's wings ears wouldn't match my eyes."

Ron growled while Harry, Hermione, Neville, and the twins laughed. Then, not only did Ron growl, but so did his stomach. Ron turned a little pink in the ears and looked at his stomach.

"I think it's time for a snack."

"We just had dinner," Hermione scolded

"Fred, George, why don't we go get Ron something to eat?" Harry asked, trying to sound innocent and succeeding rather well.

The twins looked confused but went along. "Sure."

Harry knelt down by his trunk and dug through it. He pulled out his shining, silver Invisibility Cloak. Harry stood by the twins and threw it over their heads. All the twins could do was stare.

"How long have you had this?"

"Since Christmas first year. It was Dad's."

"Wow. How come we never knew about it?"

"Because I never told you about it."

Harry led the twins out the door and to the kitchens.

"Do you two have anything else new that you need to try?"

"We've got a work in progress."

"I need one of them then if it might work. I'd like to play a little trick on Ron."

"I think we've got something. It might need a little work, but it won't take long to finish if you'd be willing to help us."

"Good. Come on. We need some normal candy, too—only one of yours. We need to get something substantial for Ron or he'll get suspicious."

The twins nodded and tickled the pear and they headed into the kitchens. Upon entering, House Elves immediately flooded around them, asking what they desired. They asked for a plate of cookies and some small wrapped candies and after receiving them, returned to the Tower and to the twins' dormitory.

Fred and George pulled out their latest project and set it on a table. The three boys made a few modifications to the small candy and took it back with them to the fifth year dormitory.

"What took you so long?" Ron asked as they walked into the room.

"What?" Harry feigned surprise as he looked at his watch. "Whoa, we were gone a while. I don't know."

Harry set the tray of cookies on Ron's bedside table and tossed the new creation to Ron. He handed the other candies out to the rest of the room and sat down on his bed next to Hermione afterward.

Ron, having seen Fred and George pop candies into their mouths without side effect, popped his into his mouth.

Harry clenched his teeth together to keep from laughing as Ron's hair began to turn bright Gryffindor red. Feathers sprouted from his arms, and he hadn't even noticed yet. Soon he had turned into an over sized rooster, crown and all. This candy was similar to a canary cream apparently.

Ron looked out at all the amused faces angrily.

"Maybe we should call it a 'chicken chocolate!'" Fred offered, causing the entire room to burst out laughing.

Hermione fell over into Harry's lap and ended up curling up there when the laughter was over. Strange looks were passed to them as Harry laid his arm on her abdomen. Harry smiled at her and kissed the top of her head.

"So…there is more to this than just comfort?" Ron asked now mostly himself again.

"It's only an hour old at most, Ron. So don't complain that you didn't notice."

"So you _were_ snogging earlier!"

"Were we?" Harry asked innocently. "I didn't think so."

Hermione looked up at him with a confused look on her face. Was he denying that they'd kissed earlier? That they confessed feelings for each other?

"Kissing, yes. But I don't think it was a snog session. You guys didn't let us go long enough."

"Bloody hell! You mean you actually would have snogged?"

Both Harry and Hermione nodded, slightly embarrassed. Ron cringed, apparently disgusted that they would have snogged had they had the chance.

"_No one_ finds out about this. _No one_, not without our permission." Harry stated very clearly. "If anyone does, he who told will answer to me and I will be angry."

All of the others in the room nodded. They understood perfectly, and none of them wanted to answer to Harry. He was one of the worst people to be around when he was angry, so they left it at that.

No one bothered them about it again until later that night.

The trio was relaxing in the boys' dormitory. They had finished their homework about an hour earlier and were now only lounging on their beds.

"Hermione," Harry whispered so Ron couldn't hear. "Do you want to stay here one more night?"

"Only if it's all right…I don't want to if the others would be uncomfortable."

"You've been here for two weeks now. I don't think one more night will matter much. It's only _one_ more night. If they have a problem they'll live."

"But—"

Harry put a finger to her lips to silence her protests and kissed her gently. "It doesn't matter. They won't have a problem with one more night. Okay?"

Hermione nodded and leaned her head on Harry's shoulder.

It was almost midnight, and they were tired. Dean, Seamus, and Neville came in about 11:30 and were not as tired as the trio but they were ready to go to bed, so Harry, Ron, and Hermione changed and climbed into bed, followed by the other three boys.

"Hey, we're not going to hear anything disgusting from over there tonight, are we?"

"RON!" The whole room came alive with random objects flying in Ron's general direction for his stupid, rude and disgusting comment.

***

The END!!!! Finally. I'm really sorry it took this long to get the whole thing out, but my paper that was 80% of my grade came first.

Hope you all liked this story.

Notes to my reviewers:

Centra-gal86: Sorry I made it such a long month. That wasn't my point. I got it up as soon as possible. I'm glad you liked Sirius's excited greeting. I like that too or I wouldn't have put it in.

XT-Zealot: LOL. Please don't destroy a planet. That's not very nice. Anyway, I hope you liked the end.

Melissa: Thanks for reviewing even though you could have gotten a hard copy if you'd wanted—just ask my sister to get one from me and I'll do my best. I know I have more grammatical errors. There's always room for improvement. Thanks.

Nymoue: It's okay. It took me a while to get it up so I think we're even. Thanks. This is the last chapter though. And I agree. I'm a solid H/H fan and they are very cute.

Special Thanks to: 

Author: Mesozoic Flower

Non-authors: Razormikey, Taylee, Kat, Melissa, Colleen

Thanks to my reviewers and all of those who helped me write this. I hope to see you reading my other stories! If you'd like, I can e-mail you a response for your review if I have your e-mail and you say you'd like me to.

THANKS TO EVERYONE!

KZerina


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